In-house Seminar – Willingness of Women to Pay for Employer-supported Childcare
28 July 2021
Amanda Balasooriya, the 2020 recipient of the Saman Kelegama Memorial Research Grant, presented the findings of her study entitled ‘Willingness to Pay for Employer-supported Childcare Service: A Case Study of Women in Kurunegala District’ at an IPS in-house seminar held virtually.
She highlighted that out of the evaluated women’s characteristics, monthly income, education, employment status, interest in doing paid work and women’s childbearing age are positively associated with willingness to pay for employer-supported childcare service. In addition, the variable, family-related expense is negatively associated with women’s willingness to pay.
Ms. Balasooriya noted that the mean willingness to pay for women in the Kurunegala district is Rs. 4421 per child/per month. Moreover, she evaluated mean willingness to pay according to selected characteristics of women. She suggested that as the recent published data shows the cost of providing employer-supported childcare in Kurunegala district is about Rs. 4000, providing employer-supported childcare under the guidance of National Daycare Policy can be a feasible solution to increase female labour force participation and bridge labour shortages in the country.